Assessment of severe lower limb trauma with the aid of on-site photography.

A 44-year-old man was brought to the hospital by ambulance with a severely deformed right femur following a motorbike accident. The initial deformity was reduced on-site, but the ambulance crew provided a pre-reduction photograph (figure 1). The patient was travelling at 100 kmph when he collided with a wall. Evaluation on-site, and primary and secondary surveys, revealed that the patient was stable (as per Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) protocol) and his injured limb …